By Simon Evans
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Manchester United crushed Leeds United 6-2 while Leicester City handed Tottenham Hotspur a second straight defeat in the Premier League on Sunday.
United’s win, with two goals each for midfielders Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes, sent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side up to third on 26 points, above fourth-placed Everton on goal difference.
Jamie Vardy’s penalty and a Toby Alderweireld own goal gave Leicester victory in North London and left the Foxes in second place, five points behind leaders Liverpool who had won 7-0 at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Sam Allardyce’s debut in charge of struggling West Bromwich Albion ended in a 3-0 home defeat by West Midlands rivals Aston Villa with Anwar El Ghazi on target twice.
Bottom club Sheffield United ended their eight match losing streak, picking up just their second point of the campaign with a 1-1 draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Promoted Leeds have won admirers for their attacking approach under Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa but the 30 goals they have conceded this season is the worst defensive record in the league and they have slipped to 14th in the table.
The Yorkshire club were 2-0 down inside three minutes after McTominay scored two early goals, the first a stunning strike from distance, before Fernandes made it 3-0 in the 20th minute.
Victor Lindelof added a fourth before a Liam Cooper header, four minutes before the interval, gave the visitors some encouragement for the second half.
But McTominay set up Dan James for United’s fifth before a Fernandes penalty made it 6-1.
Even then, with Bielsa yelling from the touchline, Leeds continued to push forward and Stuart Dallas gave them some reward for their efforts with a beautiful curling shot from distance.
While there were some outstanding individual displays in the United side, none more than from McTominay in midfield, Solskjaer also got his tactical approach spot on.
“Of course, we’ve shown them videos and analysed (Leeds) and they were wide-eyed, the boys, when they saw the clips we showed them. The spaces that can appear, or not appear if we don’t do the work. They did the work, spot on,” he said.
After their defeat by Liverpool on Wednesday, Jose Mourinho’s Spurs dropped out of the bottom two after the loss to Leicester.
The opening half produced little excitement until just before the break when the Foxes were awarded a penalty following a VAR check which found Serge Aurier had fouled Wesley Fofana — Vardy blasted the spot kick down the middle.
The second goal came in the 59th minute when Vardy got on the end of Marc Albrighton’s cross from the right and his header at the far post cannoned off Alderweireld into the back of the net.
The experienced Allardyce replaced the sacked Crotian Slaven Bilic at West Brom in midweek but after five minutes Villa took the lead when El-Ghazi deftly steered home Traore’s cross to the far post.
West Brom had captain Jake Livermore sent off following a VAR review for a reckless tackle on Jack Grealish and Allardyce’s new charges barely threatened after that, managing a single shot in the whole game.
Traore added a second six minutes from time and El Ghazi slotted home a late penalty to secure a win that lifts Villa to ninth spot on 22 points after 12 games, while West Brom remain second from bottom with seven points from 14 games.
Ten-man Sheffield United were denied a first win of the season when Brighton’s Danny Welbeck struck late to cancel out Premier League debutant Jayden Bogle’s goal in a 1-1 draw at the Amex Arena.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men when John Lundstram was sent off for upending Joel Veltman in a reckless challenge in the first half, with the referee changing his decision from a yellow card to a red following a VAR review.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-england-mun-lee-wrapup/united-hit-leeds-for-six-leicester-win-at-spurs-idUKKBN28U0X4
